1. Field of the Invention
The starting point of the invention is a process for manufacturing semifinished product from a memory alloy of the Ni/Ti type containing Cu.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The hot-working of memory alloys based on nickel and titanium is a process which is already generally known. A respectable body of literature already exists concerning the forging, swaging, rolling and drawing of these alloys (e.g. C. M. Jackson, H. J. Wagner and R. J. Wasilewski, 55-Nitinol-The alloy with a memory: its physical metallurgy, properties and applications, NASA SP5110, p. 19-21; U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,914; U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,434). The extrusion of nickel/titanium alloys has likewise been reported (J. H. Hanlon, S. R. Butler, R. J. Wasilewski, Effect of martensitic transformation on the electrical and magnetic properties of NiTi, Trans. Met. Soc. of AIME, 239, p. 1323, 1967). Various extrusion methods were used in the course of the above work, which was carried out at 900.degree. C., and with reduction ratios of 4:1 to 16:1.
These processes have been developed virtually exclusively for binary nickel/titanium alloys, and are unsuitable for ternary alloys containing copper, particularly when the copper contents are comparatively high. The ternary alloys, of the Ni/Ti/Cu type, are significantly more brittle, and contain higher proportions of the secondary phase, and greater proportions of pores, then binary Ni/Ti alloys. They accordingly impose far more exacting requirements on the methods of working. Since alloys of this type are of great industrial significance, there is a keen need for suitable production processes.